Nearby terms:

Domain Name System

(DNS) A general-purpose distributed, replicated,
data query service chiefly used on Internet for translating
hostnames into Internet addresses. Also, the style of
hostname used on the Internet, though such a name is
properly called a fully qualified domain name. DNS can be
configured to use a sequence of name servers, based on the
domains in the name being looked for, until a match is found.

The name resolution client (e.g. Unix's gethostbyname()
library function) can be configured to search for host
information in the following order: first in the local hosts
file, second in NIS and third in DNS. This sequencing of
Naming Services is sometimes called "name service switching".
Under Solaris is configured in the file /etc/nsswitch.conf.